Each year during the fourth quarter, companies around the world gather to recognize their industry’s top achievers. Awards ceremony planning is a big job and, like any event, requires a lot of time and effort to be successful.
From thanking your employees for their hard work to recognizing professionals in your industry for their achievements, these festivities are a great opportunity to gather everyone together to celebrate outstanding effort, dedication, and success.
Are you planning your first awards ceremony, or looking for some fresh awards ceremony event ideas to make your ceremony a success? In this article, we’ll explain how to plan the best awards ceremony for your guests.
Why host an awards ceremony?
Taking the time and effort to celebrate hard work and success can motivate professionals, and an awards ceremony is the perfect opportunity to congratulate the achievements of those in your industry.
Not only is an award ceremony a great way to celebrate and thank high achievers, but it’s also a chance to increase exposure, network, build brand awareness, develop new partnerships, and even raise funds for your company or organization.
Awards ceremony event management and planning: 13 key tips
If you’re hosting an awards ceremony, here are our awards ceremony planning tips for a successful, memorable event your attendees will love.
1. Assess the market need for another awards ceremony
Before you start planning an awards ceremony, think about whether your industry really needs another event like this. What other awards ceremonies exist in your industry? When do your competitors host their events? How can you make yours unique?
These are all important questions to answer before starting the planning process. If the industry has too many awards programs, you’ll need to come up with some unique awards ceremony event ideas that will encourage attendees to circle your event on their calendars.
2. Start planning your awards ceremony early
If you want to succeed at organizing a stellar awards ceremony, start the planning process at least 9-12 months in advance. A well-executed event is one that is set up for success from the very beginning. To plan a successful ceremony, you must invest time upfront and plan all the details well in advance.
3. Organize an awards ceremony planning committee
As an event organizer, it’s your job to enlist a team of people to help plan your event. As we mentioned earlier, planning an awards ceremony is a big task, and the more help you have, the better.
Sometimes the planning can fall on one person, but setting up an awards ceremony event management committee can make things easier. Assign roles and responsibilities to each committee member—there should be an event chair and sub-committees in charge of sponsorships, marketing, food and beverage, etc.
4. Have a planning and execution timeline
Write out all of the tasks that need to be completed and work with stakeholders to determine the event scope, resources required, and anticipated timeline. Tasks like booking the caterer and securing the venue can be broken down into mini-projects and assigned to stakeholders to handle. Use a detailed event planning checklist to make sure you’re not forgetting anything important!
Just Mexico ceremony event powered by Eventtia.
5. Set the budget for your awards ceremony
Make sure you establish your budget before you do too much planning—there’s no point in planning a huge event if you can only afford to host a small gathering!
Your budget should include:
- Venue cost
- Food and beverage
- Operations
- Décor
- Trophies
- Live entertainment
- Security
- AV
Shop around for quotes to make your budget as accurate as possible.
You also need to think about the marketing costs required to promote your event. Will you need to pay for advertising? This could get expensive, depending on the number of people you want to reach and your marketing strategies.
Once you have an estimate of how much it’s going to cost to host your awards ceremony, you can plan ticket pricing and sponsorships.
Make sure you read our guide on how to create a budget for your event.
6. Secure an awards ceremony venue and date
When choosing a venue for your awards ceremony, you’ll need to think about your budget and the number of people you want to invite. Most industry awards ceremonies are often held at upscale and historic venues, which are expensive. Our number one tip? Make sure you visit the venue in person to see the space and picture how your event might look.
Look for a venue with an all-inclusive package that includes on-site catering and AV support, to reduce other expenses. Also, make sure the venue has good lighting and sound quality. Choose a venue that’s easy for your guests to get to, with lots of parking and a vibe that fits your event.
Selecting a date is just as important as choosing a venue. Check that the event date doesn’t fall on the week of a national or religious holiday. Also, see what other industry events are taking place in the weeks around yours. Most people are unlikely to attend more than two industry events in the same month, especially if a lot of travel is involved.
7. Think about awards ceremony event ideas and themes
Having a theme is a great way to keep your awards ceremony structured and on-brand. Choose a theme that matches the purpose of your event, suits your audience, and fits the venue you’ve chosen. “Black Tie” or “Hollywood Glam” are great choices for upscale events, while “Around the World” is fun for global companies.
8. Select award categories
Let’s not forget, the main reason for hosting an awards ceremony is to recognize award recipients for their success! Before the nomination process opens, determine what categories you want to give out awards in. You might like to think about:
- Leadership, innovation, or teamwork awards
- Awards for both individuals and groups
- Some fun and unique awards to keep the presentation entertaining
- Attendee-voted awards, to make the ceremony interactive
Remember the more categories you have, the longer the awards ceremony will last. Save your attendees from a dull or boring ceremony by limiting the presentation to 1.5 to 2 hours. Also, determine if the award recipients will be allowed to give speeches, and if so, limit them to around three minutes.
9. Send out awards ceremony invitations and manage RSVPs
Once you have the key details figured out (like date and venue), you can send out your invitations. It’s best to send invitations as early as possible, to give your guests plenty of time to plan their attendance.
You might not realize it, but your invitations are an important part of marketing your event. You can brand them, use them to build excitement around your awards ceremony, and make your guests feel like this is something they can’t miss. Make sure your invitations include:
- Important event info like date, time, and venue
- Program details, speakers, and other key features of your awards ceremony
- Information on the dress code or theme
- Ticket prices, if applicable
- Contact details for any queries or questions
- RSVP cut-off dates
You’ll also need to manage your RSVPs so you can keep track of who has confirmed their attendance, and send reminders to guests you haven’t heard from yet.
Using an event management software like Eventtia, makes it easy to manage your RSVPs, saving you time and helping you boost your award ceremony’s attendance numbers.
Invitation Emails powered by Eventtia.
10. Choose your awards ceremony judging panel
Finding a panel of judges who are well-known thought leaders in your industry makes your event more professional. Look for a diverse panel of judges who can bring different views when selecting award winners. Reach out to local universities, magazines, and executives at Fortune 500 companies to bring respected names to your awards ceremony.
11. Design the flow of your awards ceremony
The flow doesn’t just give you an idea of how your awards ceremony will progress, it helps keep you on track throughout the event, avoiding delays. Plus, it gives your attendees an itinerary of the event, so they know what to expect. When planning the flow:
- Decide how to open your event (e.g. with a speech, video, or musical act)
- Think about the order of award presentations and how to keep the audience engaged
- Break up awards with performances or videos to keep the ceremony light
- Plan transitions between each section of the ceremony to improve the overall flow
- Keep speeches to a specific length, and don’t have too many back-to-back speeches
- Save your best or most valuable award for the end to keep everyone interested
Also, think about how your award ceremony will end. Can guests stay at the venue and network? Is there an official after-party? Make sure everyone knows what happens next.
12. Keep the audience engaged with an entertaining host
The right host can make all the difference—a high-profile host can help you bring more attendees to your awards ceremony, and an entertaining host helps keep your attendees entertained all night. Look for a host with experience in live events, and contact them early to check their availability.
13. Align with a media partner for impactful marketing
If you want attention from the media about your event, partner with an industry-leading publication to host the ceremony. A magazine or newspaper could publish a feature article and list of the award recipients to create more excitement about your awards ceremony.
Awards ceremony planning: Avoid these mistakes
We’ve talked about what it takes to plan a successful awards ceremony, now let’s mention some of the mistakes we often see in awards ceremony event management. When planning your ceremony, make sure you don’t:
- Start without a plan (plan everything carefully, and with lots of time in advance)
- Make the speeches or your ceremony too long (attendees will lose focus)
- Leave attendees with no idea what to expect at the event
- Host your event without seeing the venue or testing the WiFi and AV tech first
With careful planning, you can have a successful awards ceremony that reflects well on your company or organization.
Simplify your awards ceremony planning with Eventtia
There’s a lot to think about when planning an awards ceremony, but now you have all the steps needed for a successful event. Remember that your goal is to make this an amazing experience for award winners and the guests attending to support them. This is also a great opportunity to increase your brand exposure and celebrate everyone in attendance.
Not only does Eventtia’s event management software make planning award ceremonies easy with efficient online registration, customizable ticketing options, and multiple payment methods, it also helps you market your events by creating branded event websites, event pages, and customized emails.
Make your next awards ceremony an event to remember (without all the stressful planning sessions) with Eventtia.
Book a demo today to learn how we can help you plan your most successful awards ceremony yet.
